TNPSC cancels Group IIA mains after technical glitch sends 600 candidates to wrong exam centre; triggers protests

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) on Sunday cancelled the Group IIA main examination and the Tamil eligibility test due to a technical glitch, which led about 600 candidates to the wrong exam centre.

The name of the exam centre was printed incorrectly in the hall tickets of several hundred candidates due to a software error, the govt said.


More than 9,000 candidates are appearing for the main exam, which is the second round for filling 1,000 vacancies in assistant, personal clerk, and other posts. D G Vaishnav College in Arumbakkam, which is one of the three centres for the main exam in the city, saw a high number of candidates entering the campus on Sunday morning. The centre had made arrangements for only 300 candidates.

"Several hundred candidates reported around 8.30am. Though our hall tickets mentioned D G Vaishnav College as the exam centre, the college said our roll numbers were not on the list of candidates given to the college. After some time, only those who had their roll numbers were allowed inside the exam hall, which triggered a protest among others," a candidate said.

Several candidates who were not allowed inside the exam hall came out of the college campus and blocked the Poonamallee High Road for a few minutes.

Then officials from TNPSC came and explained that the error was due to the technical glitch.

"Initially, we thought of transporting these candidates to Government Arts College in Nandanam, which had only a few candidates sitting for the exams. However, we felt they would not have been able to perform at their best due to the confusion. So, the TNPSC decided to cancel the exams throughout the state," said A Shanmuga Sundaram, controller of examinations.

TNPSC also postponed the Tamil eligibility test scheduled on Sunday afternoon for aspirants for Group II and Group IIA posts. In a release, Shanmuga Sundaram said all candidates will be informed about the fresh exam date and exam centres 15 days in advance through messages and email.

"The preliminary exam was conducted for more than four lakh candidates last year and was held without any technical glitch. The main exam is only for 10,000 candidates. The technical glitch is very surprising, and mistakes like these should never happen again," a female candidate said.

TNPSC also announced that it would conduct the exam for Group II posts as scheduled on Feb 22. It said it would verify the hall ticket for all candidates and upload it on Feb 13.